Adding to the tsunami of major announcements coming out of Cupertino on Friday, Apple and Irish rockers U2 teamed up to give away a free copy the band's new album to each one of the more than 500 million iTunes customers in 119 countries around the world.

Apple late Tuesday confirmed an unknown issue affecting its digital storefronts has barred users from purchasing, downloading or re-downloading content from the iTunes Music Store, App Store and iBookstore.

Following the untimely death of actor and comedian Robin Williams on Monday, Apple has dedicated a special featured iTunes section to a collection of his best work, ranging from classic comedy routines to movies.

Apple on Friday activated a new iOS and Mac App Store asset that notifies customers of compatibility with the company's upcoming Family Sharing program, which will allow family members to share purchased content.

Speaking to analysts, Apple's chief executive Tim Cook called the company's new Swift programming language "a huge leap forward for the iOS ecosystem" and an important contributing factor to the company's new partnership with IBM targeting enterprise app development.

During Apple's quarterly conference call for the third fiscal quarter of 2014, CEO Tim Cook said iTunes software and services was the fastest growing segment of the company's business for the first nine months of the year.

Alongside new beta versions of iOS 8, OS X Yosemite, and numerous development tools, Apple on Monday released a preview of iTunes 12 sporting what the company calls an "elegant new design" and support for the Family Sharing feature introduced at WWDC.

Apple on Monday revealed the initial lineup for its eighth annual iTunes Festival in London, which is scheduled to kick off in September with big-name performers Maroon 5, Pharrell and Calvin Harris joining legends Blondie, Robert Plant and more at the historic Roundhouse theater.

In response to complaints published by European Commission regulators regarding In App Purchases, Apple has issued a statement outlining that it already does more than anyone else in the industry, and will be further enhancing its efforts to secure app purchases by children in iOS 8 this fall.

Apple on Thursday began offering customers in the U.S. and elsewhere the ability to replenish their iTunes Store credit through its Passbook digital wallet application for iPhone when visiting an Apple Store. AppleInsider offers a first look at how it works.

In an update to its website on Thursday, Apple announced it will soon bring bulk app and iBook purchases to 16 new countries through its Volume Purchase Program, which will include support for both businesses and educational institutions.

Apple on Thursday released iTunes version 11.3 and with it announced the availability of high-definition iTunes Extras for the Mac and Apple TV, with the bonus features coming to iOS 8 after the operating system's rollout this fall.

South Korea's Fair Trade Commission on Sunday ordered Apple and Google to make changes to their respective iOS and Android app stores policies in an effort to make post-purchase refunding more consumer-friendly.

The latest data from Nielsen shows that sales of digital albums are down 11.6 percent, while purchases of individual tracks are down 13 percent, as on-demand streaming audio has surged 50.1 percent, helping to provide some insight into why Apple purchased Beats Music.